A Dalbeattie theatre company is celebrating after completing the £450,000 funding jigsaw to transform an old school building.
The Birchvale Players have received the final £250,000 needed for their plans to convert the former St Peter’s Primary into a theatre and cinema hub.
The move was rubber stamped at Tuesday’s meeting of the council’s economy and resources committee.
Birchvale chairman Stephen Carruthers said: “We are so pleased that we now have the green light to go ahead with this project.
“It will invest more than £450,000 in Dalbeattie and bring an exciting new facility to the town.”
He added: “A massive thank you to Dumfries and Galloway Council for selling the former St Peter’s School to us and then investing further in this community project so we can get the diggers in.
“I am pleased to say contractors are lined up to start the renovation project after Easter and we hope to be up and running by early autumn.”
The total cost of converting the building comes in at £453,764 and will be carried out in two phases.
The first will see work carried out to create a theatre and cinema, a meeting room and community facilities.
The second part will involve an extension featuring a workshop, dressing rooms and costume store.
In November the economy and resources committee was told there was £548,000 available to the council through the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Living Fund.
The Birchvale project, which received £100,000 from the fund in 2019, was one of a number of projects shortlisted to receive a share of the cash.
So too was South of Scotland Community Housing Trust’s plans to buy the flat in Castle Douglas’ clocktower.
On Tuesday, the committee confirmed the allocation of £253,452 to the Birchvale and £118,146 for the clocktower project.
